Tying Up Some Loose Ends

I figured an update on a couple of earlier posts might be in order. As you may recall, Canada Post introduced community mailboxes to my neighbourhood just after last October’s federal election. This arguably was the first broken election promise for the new Liberal government, which had promised a moratorium on ending home delivery. A sign of things to come perhaps.

The system worked as designed until it got cold. In January the lock froze. I couldn’t access my mail.

I followed procedure and reported the frozen mailbox online. I received an automated response (no surprise) telling me when to expect a repair. Canada Post missed that target, and follow up emails went unanswered. After a few weeks the weather warmed up and I was once again able to access my mailbox, which by that point was quite full. I have to admit, it is a neat cost-saving trick, but what if the lock had been broken, not frozen? Would I still be waiting for mail? I’m supposed to get an email from Canada Post to tell me the matter is resolved. Six months later I’m still waiting. I did try to bring it to my MP’s attention, but got no response.

In June I wrote about the surprise introduction of traffic calming measures on my street. Given that municipal buses were driving over the flex stakes screwed into the pavement, it seemed a little useless to me. So I sent the link to my city councillor. The response from her office was quick. Someone (whose name I won’t mention here) would “be in touch with you shortly” to explain the situation to me. The Mayor’s office was copied. I’m still waiting – but the two flex stakes closest to my home vanished earlier this month while I was on vacation. I don’t know if the city removed them or if residents took things into their own hands. The stakes are still up on the rest of the street, or were Sunday when I was down that way last. (I didn’t know they were called flex stakes when I wrote the post – I learned something new.)

We live in in an era where instantaneous communication is possible, yet all too often, in my experience, that doesn’t seem to mean that things get dealt with faster. Just because you can send a message doesn’t mean it will be read. Maybe everyone is just too overwhelmed with the volume to be able to deal with all that comes in. My MP has never responded to any of my concerns, though I have sent perhaps three letters over the past decade. The city councillor apparently planned to have a staffer respond to my concerns; maybe he just got caught up in other things. And I am sure Canada Post really did plan on dealing with my mailbox lock rather than waiting for the spring thaw.

Well, I’m not sure about that one. I’ve spent my life being under-impressed with Canada Post.